Staff

HQ Office

Heather Johnston, President and CEO

Heather Johnston serves as the President and CEO of Dignitas International. With more than 20 years of experience in international development, Heather most recently served as Director of Programs at Canadian Feed the Children (CFTC). In this capacity, she oversaw the design and implementation of projects addressing health, education, food security and climate change, and led efforts to build capacity with local partners across six country programs in Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Haiti, Bolivia and Canada.

Heather has a strong background in managing health care and education in resource-limited contexts. Prior to her work with CFTC, Heather was a Country Director at Marie Stopes International in Mali from 2008 to 2011. In this role, she launched the organization’s first program in Francophone West Africa: a results-driven national program delivering sexual and reproductive health services to low-income women and couples. Heather also previously served as Oxfam’s Regional Gender Equitable Education Program Manager in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Mali and Niger.

In addition to holding a Masters in Management and Development of Cooperative Businesses from Université de Sherbrooke, Heather completed a Bachelor of Arts in Peace & Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto.